


Some things change

by orphan_account



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, ihavenoidea, lowkeyangst, lowkeyfluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:28:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24522382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Five kisses that changed Effie and Haymitch’s relationship
Relationships: Haymitch Abernathy/Effie Trinket
Comments: 7
Kudos: 57





	Some things change

It had been the first year, since Effie started working as an escort, that one of their tributes had come this far in the games. Most of the time they would be dead at only the start of the games, but this year was different. This year she was more hopeful than ever. Jet, the District 12 male tribute, had proven to be rather smart, or that's at least what Effie wanted to believe.

Haymitch on the other side, had not been so positive about the Games. 

It was the 65th Games and Haymitch had seen the way the Capitol citizen had looked at Finnick Odair. Finnick, the male tribute from District 4, was from the moment he was reaped, adored by the Capitol, he was a favourite. He was young, he was good looking, he was charming and above all, he actually had skill.

Jet was in the top five now, and Haymitch was practically waiting for the time he would die. He had watched the other tributes that were over and Jet didn’t stand a chance against them, especially, now that Finnick had received his deadly weapon, a golden trident. 

Haymitch sat down onto the couch in the living area of District 12. He had tried to find Jet some sponsors until he saw what Finnick had been capable off. It was a lost cause, he had decided then. 

Haymitch was watching, or rather staring at the television in front of him. He had muted it, not really caring for the noise of children getting hurt. He put his bottle of whiskey to his face and drank half of what was inside. He had tried to stay sober when he still had a little hope, but now that Haymitch had basically pronounced his tribute dead, he was attacking the bottle of liquor, not wanting to face Jet’s death sober. 

The guilt quickly crept up to Haymitch, he failed, again, to bring a tribute home. He couldn’t handle it without his bottle, which had basically been an extension to his arms lately. 

Haymitch sighed, he was exhausted, it was 2 am but he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something would happen to Jet, so naturally he stayed up. Besides, his nightmares had been haunting him more and more, which is why he had been exhausted. All he wanted was just some decent rest, just peace and quiet. 

Of course that was too much to ask for, as the silence was quickly broken by the sound of stilettos clicking against the floor.

Only one person could still be walking around in the penthouse at 2 am in the night. He just hoped she wouldn’t strike up a conversation with him.

Effie sat down at the end of the couch, he groaned she definitely was here for a reason.  
She unmuted the television, which followed by another sound of Haymitch. He just really did not want to deal with her right now. Luckily she put the television on a low volume and he mentally thanked her for that. 

She opened her red, glittery handbag she had been carrying around all day and reached for the schedules she had just made for the following days. 

She scanned over the schedules and some paperwork. Trying to see if there were any faults or errors, however, the schedules were flawless. All that Haymitch would have to do is, sign some paperwork and work through the schedule with her. 

The escort moved a bit on the couch, to sit closer to Haymitch, so they would be able to discuss what she had planned for the next day. 

He made a sound of annoyance when he noticed what she was planning to do, even rolled his eyes at her for thinking he wanted to discuss such matters at 2 am at night, or even to discuss it with him any time of the day. She knew he wouldn’t keep to the schedule, so why would she even bother?

Effie clapped her hands together as she looked up from her schedule to the television. She caught a glimpse of their tribute and was overjoyed to see he was actually doing alright at the moment. She watched a little while longer until the cameras went back to follow the Capitol favourite, Finnick. 

Effie turned to Haymitch “Soooo,’ she dragged out the word unnecessarily long, in Haymitch’s opinion. He already was interested about what she wanted to say next.  
“So what?” Haymitch grumbled, taking a sip of his drink. 

Effie scoffed at him interrupting her mid-sentence. Would he ever learn some manners? It was unbelievable how rude he could be sometimes. She shook her head, this was no time to talk about his manners. “So, what do you think about the Games so far?”

Haymitch merely shrugged and shifted his attention to something else besides her. He knew she actually thought this could be their year. He knew she always saw the positive side of things, and he knew he should not say his real opinion. It would break her, losing another tribute. He knew that, so for once he decided to not speak his mind.

Obviously Effie wasn’t that oblivious. She knew Finnick was the favourite tribute of the games, and most of the time, a crowd favourite won. Haymitch wasn’t the only one who had seen how skillful Finnick was. She knew that Jet was just lucky to come this far. He wasn’t particularly skilled in anything, he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, nor was he adored by the Capitol. He was just a likeable boy that would most definitely die in the end. She acknowledged that, but still wasn’t ready to give up on her tribute. 

“Well, we should get to work.” She put the schedules on his lap, ready to work through them, forgetting about Jet’s fate for now. 

Haymitch, however, had other plans. He tried to get up from the gray couch but quickly lost his balance falling back onto the couch. He had forgotten about the whiskey he had been drinking, so used to the feeling of being intoxicated. 

In the process of Haymitch standing up, he had proceeded to make the schedules fall off his lap, onto the ground. 

“Haymitch!” Effie called out angrily. She quickly got down to the ground, grabbing the schedules and other paperwork and settled down on the couch once more, but not before slapping him on the head with the papers. 

“Ouch,” he hissed “why’d you do that?” He shot her an angry look, rubbing his head.

“Well, you started it,“ Effie blamed. 

Haymitch shook his head in disbelief “Real mature, sweetheart, real mature.” He stood up once again, steadying himself before he would fall over. He stumbled a step forward and was about to take another step towards his room when he ran into something, or rather someone.

His eyes darted up, leaving the ground, now looking directly into her beautiful, ocean blue eyes.  
Effie had blocked his way “We aren’t done yet,” she said sternly. A frown was spread over her face and her lips were pursed into a thin line. Most men would be smart and listen to her demands, but Haymitch wasn’t easily charmed into doing something against his will. 

“Yeah yeah. That’s a shame,” he mumbled, waving off the importance of going through the schedules and signing the paperwork, “because I am done,” he stated, trying to push past her. However, she had managed strong grip on him and he was too intoxicated to wiggle out of it.  
“Please be a dear and move aside, sweetheart.” 

“No, we still need to discuss all kinds of things and it is not like you are sleeping, so-” Effie kept talking but Haymitch had learned to drown out her constant chatter. He didn’t care what she was saying, he was just determined to get out of his duties as a mentor for now. 

He watched her face morph into different expressions as she kept talking but all he could focus on was that damn mouth that kept moving and moving, until it stopped.

Haymitch had pressed his lips against hers and she was taking by surprise, hell he was even surprised. 

He had always found her somewhat attractive, but the whole Capitol act made him not act on those feelings, at least not when he still had a clear head.

Now he just wanted her to shut up and quit nagging him, so it seemed like a great situation. He could finally taste her lips, and she would keep her mouth from talking. 

Effie’s eyes were wide open as Haymitch’s lips touched hers. She seemed to be in shock, but before she could react to the kiss, it was already over.

Effie’s mouth gaped open, her eyes were fixed on him, but she couldn’t form a single word.  
Haymitch took advantage of the situation, he gently moved her aside and walked up to his room. He could still see the baffled state she was in and it amused him that he had that effect on her. “Good talk, Sweetheart,” he smirked, looking at her one last time, engraving her expression in his memory. 

He turned around, now facing his door, and as he entered his room, he added “We should definitely do this more.” And with that the door closed, leaving Effie behind.  
Effie watched Haymitch leave and then let herself fall on the couch, letting a breath go she didn’t know she was holding. 

She moved her fingers to her lips, did he actually just kiss her? She replaced her fingers by her tongue, licking her lips. She could taste the whiskey on them, he had definitely kissed her.  
Haymitch kissing her wasn’t even that surprising. A lot of times when he was drunk, he tried to make a move on her, but he was always too slow. This time however, he had caught her off guard and actually succeeded to kiss her. 

But the thing that surprised her most was not the kiss itself, she knew that one day he would kiss her, she just hadn’t expected for her to actually like the kiss. 

His lips were surprisingly soft, even though they were a bit chapped and it had been just the right amount of pressure he had put on her lips. 

Effie blushed, never had she expected to think this, but she might actually crave another kiss from him. 

It was wrong, she knew that, their relationship should be strictly professional, but he had finally crossed that line, and Effie found her wanting to explore this new side of the line. Even if she knew he just did it to shut her up. 

She decided that for once she would let him be, and just head to bed and talk with him in the morning about the paperwork and the schedule. 

For now, they both had time to think.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y’all like it. Please let me know what you think in the comments, it would mean a lot to me :) 
> 
> I’ve already planned out most of the kisses so let me know if you’re interested in reading the rest!


End file.
